Le fantôme de l’opéra

I love living in a city where you can easily walk from place to place on any given day, no public transportation needed.  Although that does have its drawbacks, like me having walked through almost every single pair of shoes that I own.  On the bright side, with us moving back to the states in a few months, the prospect of leaving some dead shoes behind is sounding better every day as I think of how I’m going to fit all of our stuff in four suitcases….

I can’t say that I have one particular favorite book, but The Phantom of the Opera has always been up there — I adore the book and the musical (but don’t even get me started on that mid 2000’s movie adaption.  Horrible.) and conveniently decided to reread it at the beginning of the year while I was on hold for some new books.  Lucky for me, MK was game to take the tour of the Opéra Garnier after a morning trip to the Musée d’Orsay.  I hadn’t taken the tour since I was here on study abroad in 2009 — its hard to forget how beautiful the inside of the opera is, but somehow I seem to have forgotten all the details that really make the place so pretty.  The Opéra Garnier is, hands down, one of the most beautiful places in Paris!













Dimanche

One of the best things that we’ve discovered while living here is how dead the city is early in the morning on a weekend.  As commuters, we take the most crowded metro line in Paris to and from work and school every day, meaning that those early morning weekend rides are bliss for us — guaranteed seats (with only the occasional hobo sleeping in the car), no pushing to get into the train, and the ability to leave at whatever stop we want without climbing over and elbowing 15+ people in an attempt to leave before the doors shut in our faces.

MK had pretty good metro juju the whole time she was here, averaging a seat about 50% of the time we were on that blessed mode of public transportation.  However, even she could sense the difference of going out on a Sunday morning, walking from the metro to church, and then heading over to a tourist spot before everyone else had awoken.  Theres something magical about having the streets of Paris to yourself while the sun rises over the Haussmanian buildings.

And I do have to say, Notre Dame is much more enjoyable when you don’t have to move en masse with 5000 of your closest friends to see the windows….








Fontainebleau – wandering the grounds

One of the great things about France is stellar weather we have pretty regularly.  Everything here is pretty middle of the road as far as temperatures go, even if we do get more rain than normal.  Lucky for MK, while she was here she magically brought a week long respite from the rain, leading to the perfect opportunity for us to spend as much time outside as possible!

Not to be outdone by The Husband’s and my picnic along the banks of the Seine in early March last year ( I was just so antsy for picnic weather!!!!), MK and I left for Fontainebleau with picnic in two — two delicious baguette sandwiches loaded up with all the veggies that would fit!  And of course, some tasty treats.  What would a picnic be without great scenery and tasty treats?










Fontainebleau – pourquoi pas?

When MK decided she was coming to visit, we knew that we had to visit a château.  I mean, what would a trip to Paris be without something decadently over the top?  Now, the obvious choice would have been Versailles, but we ruled that out because she isn’t as obsessed with Louis XIV as I am (seriously, historical crush.  Sorry Husband, but I wish you wore a curly wig and red soled heels while walking around Versailles).

The next logical choice?  Fontainebleau, of course!  Located south of Paris, it doesn’t get as many visitors and is therefore ideal for picnicking and spending the day taking in the air of the French countryside.  Plus, lets not forget the fact that Napoléon took up residence in those hallowed halls.  What’s not to love?

Our trip was made even better by the realization that the woods surrounding the Château were the inspiration for those in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and although we can’t find any proof of it, the library looks like it may have served as inspiration as well!  (Stay tuned for that picture, though…  I may have gone completely overboard on taking pictures since it was MK’s first château and the sun just so happened to be shining the whole time we were there!).

My favorite part of the château, though?  Definitely the grounds.  Theres just something about that sweeping staircase at the entrance to the château as well as the serene lake and gardens that just gets me every time.  Who wants to go halvesies on a château with The Husband and I?











Louvre

I find that no matter how many times I go to the Louvre to wander on a rainy afternoon, I am constantly surprised by something that I come across.

This particular time, it was a beautiful painting found in a forgotten stairwell — one that was commissioned only a few years ago and therefore is special in terms of the Louvre.  MK and I spent our time wandering (as thats the best way to explore the Louvre, in my humble opinion) with no particular goal in mind except seeing some beautiful art and finding a particular room that had a special ceiling.

I’m going to miss rainy afternoons in the Louvre when we move back to the states.  Somehow, with all my visits there, I still get the feeling that theres so much more to be explored housed within those walls.







BFFFL

Recently one of my best friends from college came to visit — MK.  MK is one of the kindest, happiest, most amazing girls out there, and I’m lucky to count her as a friend.  I can’t even explain my excitement when she told me she was coming.

You see, as magical as living in Paris is, sometimes it gets lonely.  Being far away from all of your family and friends is hard, as well as not having lots of time to socialize and make new friends because of school and work.  Luckily for me, I have really awesome friends that have been great about staying in touch with me through the internet, but sometimes it just isn’t the same as having someone physically there for you.

The last time MK and I were together before last week was the day The Husband and I got married — she was my only friend from college to fly half way across the country to the wedding (understandably), and she even brought on a picture of our other friend, Cougar, so that we could have pictures of the three of us on my wedding day.

Thank you, MK for coming to visit and reminding me what it is like to have a friend in person there for you — someone you can touch, talk to while walking around the city and taking the metro, take actual photos with, eat too much galette with, drive for hours with, the list goes on.

Like any good tourists, we started out MK’s trip with a bang — a scooter ride from our place, around the Arc de Triomphe, then around the Eiffel Tower and back to the Champs-Élysées where we shopped our hearts away for a few hours while taking in the last of the Christmas decorations.  We love Paris!








Oh, and don’t forget the pastries… SO MUCH GOODNESS. And the trips to Picard...

Touriste.

I secretly love when we have visitors in town.  Theres something nice about being able to let everything else drop to the side for the moment and living in a way where a. you see tons of beautiful things and b. you come home drop dead tired at the end of every day and are totally and completely willing/able to zonk out by 10 PM and sleep till 8 the next morning.

Sometimes I wish I could be a tourist all the time, then I realize how much I enjoy the other things in life — school, studying, working, wandering aimlessly, and most of all, taking in my city how I want to see it, not how others think I need to see it to gain the best possible experience.

The week before Christmas one of The Husband’s friends hopped over the pond to spend a few days sleeping in our tiny studio with us (on the floor, of course) and taking in Paris for his first time.  Lucky for me, Nontendo was pretty chill and allowed me to show him Paris how I wanted to.  I love when that happens!  He also kept The Husband busy making music till the wee hours of the morning each day, something which they both sorely enjoyed!

Thanks for coming to visit, Nontendo!  Come back again soon!







Isn’t it great when its still warm enough in December to have picnics?

Marché de Noël

Right before Christmas The Husband and I met up with two other couples and had a double date to the Christmas markets at La Défense.  I have to say, I like these ones so much more than the Marché on the Champs-Élysées!  It’s less crowded and theres more cool stuff to look at!  Win win!

Sadly, I didn’t get a picture of it, but when we went back on Christmas eve there was a man in lederhosen playing one of those long instruments from Ricola commercials.  Someday I’ll be that cool….

Oh yeah, and The Husband finally got some poutine.  This was probably the single greatest day of his life.  Vive la poutine!

Le jardin

The Husband and I live in a great neighborhood in Paris — it’s definitely not too touristy, and theres always something to do.  Not to mention that we live in a mostly immigrant neighborhood, which is perfect, since we fit right in to that category! (I don’t like calling us expats — theres just something about that word that doesn’t seem to fit our situation….)

Ever since we moved here in 2011, we’ve always taken the bus/walked past this little park that looked like it had some cool art inside and said “lets go in there next time we go past”.  Well, with school done and applications done and a lonely Christmas upon us, we finally did just that!

Imagine my surprise when, in addition to being a park, this place is also a community garden!  This spot might just be my new favorite place in our quartier…

13è arrondissement

I love street art — I think it comes from my love of contemporary France, breaking from the traditional, proper France that I learned about all through junior high and high school.

I often make The Husband walk around random parts of town with me in an attempt to find cool art — something that we’ve both grown to love as a great bonding time for us, and is sadly growing less common with the onset of winter….









In other words, I defended my thesis this week and officially passed with flying colors, making me Master Katherine (Mistress sounds too much like I’m doing something covert between the covers with someone else’s husband…).  Best. Day. Ever.